Rick & Pam Barry Prayer Letter - July 2007
Dear friends and family,
July has been a flash! During the first week of the month, we finished writing & editing the BIEM Challenger that you should have received by now. The day after the holiday, Rick boarded a jet bound for Russia to take part in a camp primarily for church kids. After he arrived, he was told that the camp had to be postponed. The government was inspecting all campgrounds in that area. What to do?
Rick
was then invited to be a leader in another
Christian camp that was geared (1) to teach
English to teens and adults, and (2) to
evangelize those students. So he went. God’s
ways are marvelous. It turned out that at
least 60%-70% of the campers who came to
this other camp were non-Christians, and
many didn’t even pretend to go to church.
But for the sake of improving their English,
they joined in memorizing Bible verses and
competing to see who could say them best in
English and Russian from memory. The campers
also put on skits they themselves developed,
many of which had Christian themes. Of
course, they also sang Christian songs in
English and Russian, along with chapel times
that were sometimes in English with Russian
interpretations to make sure everyone
grasped the main messages.
Many,
many campers accepted invitations to come
forward and accept Jesus Christ as Savior.
(Some came more than once until we assured
them that once was enough if they were
serious with God the first time!) And over
the course of those 10 days, some teens who
seemed pretty wild at first became
friendlier, kinder. They started showing up
for voluntary Bible study before breakfast,
so we immediately saw lives changing.
On the last day of camp, as everyone was saying farewells, a girl named Yulia tearfully asked if she could still get saved. So two adult leaders knelt with her and led her in prayer just before the vans took the kids to the train station for the trip back to Moscow. A great ending!
Meanwhile, this month Journey Forth Books (a division of BJU Press) published Rick’s Christian WW II novel, Gunner’s Run. Although primarily an adventure, the story contains many spiritual truths and a salvation message. We hope that Christian and non-believing readers will benefit from it. (And of course it would be nice to earn some royalties to help plug the gap in missionary support.) Copies can be ordered through any bookstore (ISBN # 978-1-59166-761-2), or from the publisher (tel: 800-845-5731) or by inviting Rick to come and preach at your church!
Keep praying for souls to be saved in the former USSR!
Rick & Pam Barry